Who Is the Real Jesus - Essay Example

Who is the Real Jesus? Introduction Religious figures form a great part of our history. Whether one is referring to the ancient Greek and Roman gods, Yaweh, Jesus, or any other figure of tremendous stature, history typically records many of the stories and traditions that have transcended time. Jesus is obviously one such figure who has garnered much attention since he first walked the earth more than 2,000 years ago. In fact, beyond forming the basis for the Christian religion, Jesus himself has played a central role in the Jewish and Islamic faith’s as well, just to varying extents. Only in Christianity, for example does Christ become elevated to divine stature. In Islam, however, while Jesus is not divine, he certainly existed and was regarded a great teacher of his day. Upon examining various accounts of Jesus and his time spent on earth, it is prudent to conclude that the Muslim account of Jesus is more similar to the true account of the historical Jesus as compared to the Jesus of the Christian faith. This report will, therefore, reflect the reality that the historical Jesus can be seen as more of a zealot or criminal as opposed to a divine being, as recounted in the varied accounts of the Christian gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Muslim Jesus is not Divine While Islamic teaching does regard Jesus as having been a human being who was a messenger of God, the Muslim faith rejects the idea that he was God, nor was he the begotten son of God. In fact, Islamic scripture teaches that anyone who believes that Jesus either God or the Son of God is Shirk. This is to mean that the individual has committed the sin of idolatry, as Islam teaching comes form the express point of view that there is only one true God, and that His prophet is Muhammed. To attach any status approaching divinity to the personhood of Jesus is simply wrong and cannot be accepted under the Islamic faith1. Muslims simply cannot reject the notion of God’s divine oneness, as that is a fundamental tenant of their faith. As such, to make the claim that the Muslim Jesus is divine would be equatable to committing an unpardonable sin. One of the arguments in the Christian faith is that Jesus is divine as represented by the concept of the Trinity. This is to say that God, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Sprit (the Essence of Jesus that has remained after His ascension to Heaven) are all divine and the same person. As such, since Jesus is part of the Trinity, Christians argue that He was and still is divine in his own right. This, again, rejected by Islamic teaching2. The Muslim perception of Jesus teaches that human mindset towards such a concept as the trinity is simply made false by the notion that God himself could not have reveled such things to human. In the end, Islam views Jesus as being a human like all other prophets. He preached that salvation could come through submission to God’s will and by worshipping God alone. Muslims do not discount this version of Jesus and what he is taught, as it part of the historical record. They reject, however, the claim that he was divine. Muslims will contend that any man can make such a claim, and indeed many have done just that throughout history. As such, the claim that Jesus is divine is reject off hand, just as it is for any other human or prophet before or since that has made similar statements. To further this claim, one must remember that Muhammed himself did not claim to be divine, nor do Muslims make the claim that he was. Muhammed was a direct prophet of Allah, who is the one true God3. As such, to make any type of claim that Jesus approached anything near a divine or supernatural being is simply inaccurate and not permitted under Islamic teachings. Again, Muslims do not deny the existence of Jesus, but they reject the account of him as portrayed in the Christian Bible. As a record of history, Muslims claim, the various accounts of Jesus are contradictory. The stories of him teaching and preaching, however, even if accurate paint the picture of someone who claimed to be the Messiah, but as the people of the Jewish faith are quick to point out, they reject that claim as well. On that account, the Muslim Jesus must be seen as a human being that was a teacher, and perhaps a prophet. In regard to the idea that Jesus was divine, however, Muslims and Jews stand united on the teaching that he was not and should not be treated as such4. The Muslim Jesus is a Prophet Muslims to believe that God reveled a new scripture to Jesus while he lived on earth. At the same time, the truth of previous books in the Bible, namely Psalms and the first five books of the Old Testament, was confirmed. Islam teaches, however, that the original message, as revealed by God centuries ago, has been completely distorted and corrupted over time by man. So, while Jesus is considered to be a prophet, the message he was given has been largely altered to the point that it ascribed a status to him that simply never should have been given in the first place. In actuality, many Muslims do respect and revere Jesus. They believe him to be one of the greatest of God’s chosen messengers, or prophets, that mankind has ever encountered. The Quran, for example, specifically confirms his virgin. This is found in the chapter of the Quran that it titled ‘Maryam’ and it states: “Remember when the angels said ‘O Mary, God gives you good news of a word from Him (G0d), whose name is the Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, revered in this world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near to God. He will speak to the people from his cradle and, as a man, he will be of the righteous’ and she said, “My Lord, how can I have a child when no moral has touched me?’ He said, ‘So it will be. God creates what He wills. If He decrees a thing, He said to it only ‘Be!’ and it is”. This is found in the Quran 3:45-47, and confirms, to a large extent, the Christian account of the birth of Jesus, and his special calling to be a prophet5. It is important to note that Muslims do not believe that Jesus was crucified. Islamic teaching has the message of crucifixion as being a plan of the enemies that Jesus had made on earth, but they did not succeed because God saved him from this brutal type of death. Instead, the likeness of Jesus was placed over another man, and that man was crucified in the place of Jesus. Muslims do not believe that Jesus came to the world to change the basic and prevailing belief that both Christians and Muslims have that there is only true God. This same message was bought by prophets before both Jesus and Muhammad, so Jesus is largely considered to be a great prophet, but not on the level of Muhammad, and certain should not be taken in a light that gives him divine status6. A Comparison of the Christian and Muslim Jesus It is certainly important to mention that there are points of convergence between the Muslim’s account of Jesus, and those of the Christians. There are, however, significant differences as well. To be clear, most of the information that Islam teaches about Jesus today is found in the text of their Holy Book, the Quran. This book is the words as revealed by God to the Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad memorized these words and wrote them down during his own lifetime. This alone differs from the Christian accounts of religious history as contained in the Bible. To begin, Jesus himself did not write down any of the text in the Bible, but those closest to him wrote down their accounts after the fact. The issue that many Muslims take with this is the reality that this took place many years after the death of Christ, whereas their main prophet, Muhammad, wrote down the words himself prior to his death7. Even within the context of the Old Testament, books were largely written containing accounts of events that happened in previous lifetimes, thereby compromising the integrity of the historical accounts as they related to religious events. Today, just as Christians contend, Muslims believe in the complete reliability and authenticity of the Quran as the original revelations of God, and the text is designed to be guide for Muslims about right living here on earth, and the afterlife. Christians differ from this in that they gain their information about Jesus from the Christian Bible, which does contain reference to Jesus in both the Old and New Testaments. The main narratives detailing the life of Jesus are found in the first four books of the New Testament, named the gospels, and were written by individuals names Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Muslims note that this is an inherent problem with the Christian account of Jesus because none of the sources of his life, namely those contained in Gospels, can be traced to Jesus himself, as it is known that he did not leave behind a single written word to provide proof of the accounts made about him. In addition, there are no known modern day account written of either his life or his death. Muslims contend that much of what we do know about Jesus today depends almost entirely on long held Christian traditions, which cannot be validated8. This is particularly true of the written accounts of the life and death of Jesus as found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Both Islam and Christianity do agree that Jesus was the messenger of the one true God. This is an important point to make, as the God of Christianity and Allah of Islam are believed to be the same, and there can be no other. In fact, Muslims contend that their belief in all of the Prophets and Messengers of God in a fundamental concept within their faith. As such, they do hold a great deal of respect for Jesus, but as a prophet, and as nothing more. Anyone claiming to be a true Muslim will express a belief in the Prophets of Adam, Jesus, Moses, and Muhammad, among others. Islam goes onto contend that anyone who denies that Jesus was a messenger of God is not to be considered a Muslim. This can be found in the Quran 5:75, stating, “The Messiah (Jesus), son of Mary, was no more than a Messenger before whom many messengers have passed aaa; and his mother adhered wholly to truthfulness, and they both ate food (as other mortals do). See how we make our signs clear to them; and see where they are turning away”. Both Christians and Muslims do agree with the historical account of the miraculous birth of Jesus. Muslims actually beyond this and teach that Jesus actually spoke while he was in the cradle as a baby. In addition, Muslims do not agree with the account of the Christian Jesus that he performed many miracles while on earth. They disagree with Christians, however, that these were acts called upon by Jesus himself. Muslims contend that while Jesus did perform these miracles, that they were actually done so only because of the will and permission granted to him by God, who has the power and control over all such matters. It is important to not the Muslim Jesus is not the son of God. This is specifically found in the text of the Quran in 111:1-4, stating that, “Say: ‘God is unique! God, the source of everything. He has not fathered anyone nor was He fathered, and there i nothing comparable to Him”. It is on this point that Islam makes no equivocation about their belief in the limitations of Jesus himself. They concede the point that Jesus was a prophet, but so was Moses and Adam before him. Those individuals did not make the claim that Jesus was the Son of God, yet Jesus did. On the account, Muslims claim either that the interpretation of the Bible, as recorded by man, is inherently flawed, the Jesus misspoke, or that Jesus became delusional and claimed a place at God’s table without adequate permission to do so. Whatever the reason, Islam clearly teaches that Jesus could not possible be the son of God because there is only one True God, who never had off spring, nor was He the off spring of any other being9. On this point, the Christian Jesus does diverge from the Muslim Jesus. There is an inherent teaching in Christianity that Jesus was resurrected from the dead and ascended into heaven. There is no such place for this teaching in the Muslim faith, however, and Muslims contend that this did not happen. It is also important to mention that Muslims do not contend their own chief prophet, Muhammad, was resurrected, as he was a human being specifically called by called to be a messenger of God to the people, but not to become God10. To believe that Jesus was resurrected is simply a false teaching that Muslims contend has distorted the Christian faith, and has turned around the historicity of Jesus himself into a series of misguided interpretations of the reality of both his life and death. Conclusion Religious figures, throughout history, have been both revered and vilified. At the end of the day, it is up to modern society and human civilization to come to common points of agreement on the authenticity of their Holy and Spiritual figures. At the same time, it is important to understand what one believes and to issue statements against false teachings and misguided history. In the case of the Muslim account of Jesus, there are certainly many points of agreement with the Christian account of Jesus, but these are largely based on historical facts or traditions that Islam does not discount. To ascribe a divine status to a human being, however, is beyond the scope of any Islamic teaching and, as mentioned, is an unpardonable sin within the Islamic faith. Muhammad himself is considered to be the great prophet of Islam, but Muslims do not now, nor have they ever, ever confused him with the one true God that they have worshiped through the centuries. This is a major point that cannot be ignored as the two religions strive to find some type of common ground between the two. To ignore the main premise of both religions that ascribes to a sincere and heartfelt belief in one true God is simply too large of a jump to make. Bibliography American Society of Church History, Holy Child or Holy Terror? Understanding Jesus’ Anger in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Kristi Upson-Sais, March 2013. Aslan, Reza. Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. New York: Random House, 2013. Borg, Marcus. Ed. Jesus at 2000. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1998. Friedman, Matt. “The Mission and Death of Jesus in Islam and Christianity.” Mission Studies 28 no. 1 (2011): 147-148. Ibrahim, Ayman. “Jesus in Islam.” First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life 240 no. 2 (2014): 8. Keener, Craig. The Historical Jesus of the Gospels, New: Wm. B. Erdmans Publishing Company, 2009. Lee, Michael. “Islam”. The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs 17 no. 5 (2008): 126. Michel, Thomas. “Islam’s Images of Jesus.” Journal of Palestine Studies, 31 no. 2 (2012): 96. Miele, Frank. “Islam”. Skeptic 16 no. 3 (2011): 22 Singh, David. “Rethinking Jesus and the Cross in Islam.” Mission Studies, 23 no. 2 (2006): 239. Read More